


Just Harry

by Ellionne



Series: Harry Potter And The Horcruxes [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Harry Needs a Hug, Harry Potter Gets a Hug, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Horcrux Hunting, How Do I Tag, Identity Issues, M/M, Obsessive Behavior, Obsessive Tom Riddle, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Tom Riddle, Resurrection, Sad Harry, Under the Influence of Horcruxes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-27 18:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30126780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellionne/pseuds/Ellionne
Summary: Ron might have left, Hermione was ‘gathering provisions’ or had already left him too but-It didn’t matter, did it?Harry didn’t need to feel alone anymore - not as long as Marvolo was with him.Sleep, darling.Let me take care of you.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Series: Harry Potter And The Horcruxes [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105601
Comments: 10
Kudos: 74





	Just Harry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Metalomagnetic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metalomagnetic/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Either must die at the hand of the other](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29356095) by [Metalomagnetic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metalomagnetic/pseuds/Metalomagnetic). 



> **Do NOT repost, recreate or translate.**
> 
> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3
> 
> This fic has no relation to _Either must die at the hand of the other_ so it can be read on its own but _omg_ have I read chap 9 often the day it was posted. It would be embarrassing if I were able to feel a smidge of shame for it.  
> Anyways - while I was thinking about it one of my [favourite songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCG6-DNXOZY) played and I got madly inspired for some Sad!Harry and Possessive!Locket - so, here we are!  
>  ~~I wanted it to be more smutty but I'm apparently unable to write more than one smut fic at once - I'm sorry TT_TT~~
> 
> Have fun!

Harry wanted to sleep, nothing but sleep. 

To fall into the nothingness that would swallow him whole and not let him get up again. 

To fall into oblivion.  
But there was no oblivion for him.  
Not for Harry _fucking_ Potter. 

He ached to be Harry - _just Harry_ \- like he had told Hagrid so many years ago when he had been nothing but a _boy_ and dreamed of being more. Of being worthy. 

Worthy of affection.  
Of attention.  
Worthy of someone staying at his side. 

These days, Harry almost missed his childhood with the Dursleys - and wasn’t that just plain messed up? How long had he wished to be swept away, to never need to return to them? How often had he begged to stay his summers anywhere else? 

But now? 

Utterly alone hiding away in an empty tent in a remote forest, a wanted poster in hand with his face on it... he yearned for the times when he had been invisible. 

When he had been left alone as long as he did his duty.  
When his duty had been a list of chores, designed to make him fail.  
Not to kill a man without any help or preparation. 

He crumbled the poster in his hand, but even so, the needless caption of _Undesirable No 1_ was still visible. As if Harry would need a poster to keep such easy facts in mind.  
_Harry_ had never been one to be desired. 

The Wizarding World had wanted a piece out of Harry Potter since before he had set the first step into it. Be it crazy folks trying to touch him or crazy folks trying to kill him. 

But no one had ever cared for Harry.

Small, awkward Harry, who could stand in the middle of a crowd and still feel alone. Who was awkward and unable to connect with anyone around him.  
Harry, who, with his first step into the Wizarding World, tried to be anything else.  
Harry, who tried to be anyone else. 

Who genuinely had tried to _be_ Harry Potter. 

Harry Potter was friends with the Weasleys and with Hermione Granger.  
Harry Potter had taught the D.A. and forged bonds for life with every single one of its members. 

Bonds that didn’t tide over to Harry. 

Harry, who no one ever listened to.  
Harry, who was forced to return to the Dursley’s when there was no need for Harry Potter around.  
Harry, who had soothed a frightened snake and was deemed to be evil afterwards because Harry Potter wasn’t supposed to talk to snakes.  
Harry who had been abandoned as soon as he was entered into the Triwizard Tournament before Harry Potter took over in the first task and everyone came around again. 

Harry, who was utterly alone. 

All alone but for the Locket around his neck, the impression of a solid chest in his back and strong arms around his middle. 

Ron might have left, Hermione was ‘gathering provisions’ or had already left him too but-  
It didn’t matter, did it?

Harry didn’t need to feel alone anymore - not as long as Marvolo was with him.

  
  


oOo

_Sleep, darling._

_Let me take care of you._

oOo

  
  


“ _Marvolo-!_ ”

The corner of his lips dipped low for a moment. He despised the name, the remembrance of the pitful half-squib that had once been his grandfather, the disgrace the Slytherin line had fallen into. But it was better than the name of his worthless muggle father. Better than the name he had built for himself before it was tainted by the madness _he_ had fallen into. Marvolo would need to do. It wasn’t as if anyone but Harry would be allowed to call him by something as mundane as a name.

Harry...

There was no need for skin-contact anymore to feel the anguish that swept through the boy. That made him crumble to the ground, cracked Locket in hand, wide eyes unseeing and leaking sweet tears over a gaunt face. 

Marvolo felt the need to tsk when he actually _saw_ the boy’s malnourished frame, his greasy hair, and ratty clothes for the first time but he didn’t want to announce his presence just yet. 

He had put his plan into action not a moment too soon, it seemed. Who knew how long the boy would have been able to hang on without Marvolo there - _in person_ \- to take care of him? 

It was obvious he did a bad job if left to his own devices. 

_Good, that he wouldn’t need to any longer._ _  
_ _He wouldn’t need to care about a single thing for the rest of his life - Marvolo would see to it._

It was astounding how _small_ the hailed Saviour of the Wizarding World was. 

It wasn’t just his appearance - underfed like the weakest children back in the orphanage, the ones who had been too _kind_ to try and get more than their ‘fair share’ that wouldn’t have been enough for a single meal, nevermind for a whole day as it was meant to be. Like the ones who hadn’t been able to fight against the older children - the _stronger_ children, like Tom Riddle. 

No, Harry was, even more noticeable, small in his self-perception.

In their time together, and the time he had been forced to spend with Harry’s deadweights, Marvolo had tirelessly gathered information. Enough to know about the prophecy concerning the boy and himself. Enough to know about the trials the boy had been through since his early childhood - not only orchestrated by Voldemort but also by Dumbledore, for whatever reason. 

Piecemeal as his knowledge might be, Marvolo knew the boy was anything but small.  
Appearance aside, Harry was a giant, by all means.  
Greater than Harry Potter could ever be.

Harry’s magic so rich, it hung in the very air around him, had been vibrant enough to awaken Marvolo from his slumber within the Locket. It was surprisingly, just as the prophecy indicated, indeed equal in strength to Marvolo’s at the hight of his might.

Harry’s dedication, misplaced as it was, strong enough to keep him running and running and running against all odds. Let him come out on top even in the most hopeless situations.

Harry’s charisma, forceful enough to drag others alongside Harry Potter, even against his stated wishes. It drew others in to an extent he couldn’t defend himself against their unwanted attention.

  
  


_But not anymore._ _  
_ _Marvolo would keep them away, would break Harry Potter apart until only Harry was left. And no one was to stay at Harry’s side._ _  
_ _No one but him._

  
  


Wearing the Locket had broken Harry Potter’s friend’s defences down enough for Marvolo to manipulate them into abandoning Harry in embarrassingly little time. It hadn’t taken much. Just little whispers how they risked their lives alongside Harry. No Last Name.  
Just Harry.

There was no glory to gain without Harry Potter.

And as Marvolo had anticipated - as he had seen countless times in their minds - like always when they lost sight of Harry Potter just to find _Harry_ \- 

They left. 

Harry obviously didn’t understand why he seemed to be unable to properly bond with the sheep around him. Although, he wasn’t entirely wrong to suspect the fault to lie with him. 

_Within_ him, to be precise. 

It was Voldemort that, as always, caused trouble for their boy. 

Worthless as they were, even sheep noticed a predator among them. They noticed the small part of Voldemort’s very being, nestled down in the pelt of softness and kindness that was Harry - barely noticeable under the bold mask of brave Harry Potter. 

The shred of Voldemort’s soul that somehow had found its way into Harry’s forehead, too meagre to be fully coherent but aware enough to feel greed, to omit its predatory intend into the faceless masses that weren’t worthy of seeing Harry. 

The lazy thing, cradled against the warmth of Harry’s soul, always dozing like an old snake in the sun. Old, but no less quick to attack whenever someone got too close to its territory. 

But it was better this way. 

The little friends didn’t matter other than being the sacrifice to free Marvolo from his prison and bring him back into a resemblance of his old body. 

He had to send them away first because Marvolo knew, no matter how disconnected they were, Harry couldn’t have tolerated their role in Marvolo’s resurrection. 

Just like everything else, Harry’s heart was also too large for his waifish frame. Marvolo had never felt the need to acknowledge such useless hindrances but even he was hard-pressed to acknowledge the importance of _Harry’s_ heart, his ability to _love_. 

It was disgusting, how the boy had the ability to encompass all around him, to make room for every single soul he ever met no matter their betrayals, their darkness - he even had room to spare for the small shard nestled into his scar. 

Marvolo could feel it, resting cosily in the boy’s magic, cradled alongside his very being. Being content with its place. 

It hadn’t been alone like Marvolo in the Locket.  
In the cold cave, surrounded by the rotting dead.  
In the dreadful house alone with the muttering creature that wanted nothing but to destroy him.  
In the hands of filthy thieves and a vile woman.

No.  
The shard inside Harry, just as small as Harry imagined himself to be in the great scheme of things, had been cared for.  
Had been _loved_ and it had been changed in just the subtlest ways. 

Oh, it was still not _pure_ .  
Still vaguely eager for the domination of the Wizarding World, but not at all cost anymore.  
Not at cost of _Harry_. 

In the beginning, Marvolo had resented the shard. They had fought, wordless and powerless, over the matter. But in the end, with the Locket resting over the boy’s heart for too long, being imbued by his magic for too long, Marvolo relented. 

Surrounded by the _love_ , granted without any conditions, Marvolo found himself craving the warmth - and why should he deny himself? 

No. He would keep Harry. The boy with a heart big enough to spare room for even his prophesied enemy. 

The only thing, Harry apparently hadn’t the ability to love, was himself. 

It had been there before, the dark thoughts, the emptiness. But Marvolo had not been quite able to grasp it. Not fully, at least. Not until he had made the redheaded boy leave them, and Harry floundered in despair. Had drowned in worries- no, _memories_ of being abandoned by the same boy again and again. 

Even so, Harry didn’t feel any surprise that it had happened just _yet_ _again_.  
Because it was to be expected, it was _deserved._

But still, Harry was grateful.  
Grateful for the girl to stay.

It had amused Marvolo. 

_His Harry was so easy to please, wasn’t he?_ _  
_ _How grateful would Harry be for him, Marvolo wondered?_ _  
_ _He was already deeply settled into Harry’s very self. And even if he weren’t, Marvolo wouldn’t let the boy just leave anymore - why should he?_

Marvolo was trapped under the umbrella of disgusting, all-encompassing love that was warm enough to let him feel an attachment to the hero that was supposed to destroy his existence.

Only-  
It wasn’t what this was about, was it?

Marvolo didn’t care for Harry Potter. If he were to, the boy would already be dead, strangled by the very Locket he had learned to care about although it brought nothing but pain to his ‘friends’. 

No, Marvolo was attached to Harry who was hidden behind the disguise of the Saviour. 

The boy that didn’t want to be on the run, to have no place to call home. The boy that would be happy with being _just_ _Harry_ and didn’t feel any connection to _Harry Potter_ if the sad scenes at the shore of the nearby lake were any indication. 

When he wrote his name in the mud over and over, always crossing out the surname that made him an idea rather than a person. In the hidden corners of his mind, only privy to Marvolo and the shard, he desired to be ordinary, to be a human rather than something otherworldly. 

While Marvolo couldn’t relate to this particular idea, he could work with it.

Harry felt empty, disconnected from all life around him. But Marvolo would nestle into the spare room in Harry’s soul, into his lonely heart. He would fill both to the brink until Harry could feel, could _see_ nothing but him. 

And other than the lazy stowaway already present, Marvolo would take care of Harry. He would ingrain himself deeper and deeper into Harry’s very core until they would be entwined, would be inseparable. 

Even more, than they were right now with the prophecy surrounding them, and Voldemort’s pitiful shard resting alongside the boy’s brightly glowing soul, doing nothing but easing the passage for Marvolo. 

_No._ _  
_ _They would be inseparable because Harry himself wouldn’t want them to be apart._ _  
_ _Marvolo would spoil Harry rotten, would show him what it was like to be cared for._ _  
_ _And Harry would crave Marvolo taking care of him like Marvolo craved Harry’s warmth, his pliant softness along the sharp edges of his own ripped-apart soul._

It wouldn’t be difficult, no one else had ever cared for Harry before.

Not one of them - not the girl, none of the redheads, and especially not Dumbledore who had learned nothing of his past mistakes and forced the boy back to the vile muggles that only enforced his belief in the lack of his own worth time and time again. 

None of them knew how Harry saw himself.  
How he felt alone, so utterly alone, with no one to relate to - because all the people in his life only cared for Harry Potter, never for Harry.  
How he thought to deserve nothing else.

No one knew about how the only warmth Harry had ever felt was when he was sleeping dreamless, the soul shard within humming contently, giving Harry the feeling of being useful. Of being appreciated for nothing else but being _just Harry_. 

How Harry hadn’t wanted to share the Locket - not because it was a heavy burden he wanted to spare the others from, not because it muddled his thoughts and forced him to wear it. But because it made his own burden lighter. Eased the destiny upon his shoulders.

When Marvolo’s Locket rested over Harry’s heart, it reached out and shared its inherent magic just as he syphoned the boy’s. An eternal exchange between them. Their magic. Their souls. 

With the Locket around, Harry didn’t need to worry.  
With wearing the Locket came the inherent knowledge that Voldemort would never touch him. 

The Locket- no, _Marvolo_ wouldn’t let him.

But now, the cracked Locket cradled against his fast-heaving chest, Harry obviously feared for Marvolo to be gone. To be left alone, to have to fend for himself again. 

Marvolo couldn’t suppress a small huff upon the pathetic display of trust, as he stepped out of the shadows and towards the shivering boy. 

_As if Harry would get rid of him so easily._

No. The Locket was cracked because it was no jail anymore. Because the essence within was lost - because _Marvolo_ had finally worn the redhead down, had syphoned all of his energy and reformed a body for his own. Had no further use for the Locket.

Harry hadn’t been awake for the process of Marvolo’s escape from the Locket. He had slept more and more recently, all but fleed into his dreamscape where Marvolo had as patiently waited for him as he had been able to. 

Waited for Harry to return at his side.

Marvolo had discovered early on, that Harry yearned to be touched - to be cradled against the tall frame that Marvolo had, until now, only possessed within Harry’s dreams. 

To sit at Marvolo’s feet and have his hair pet and enjoy light touches fluttering over his face. How he sighed deeply whenever Marvolo would push a bit of his magic into _his_ scar, letting it interact with the soul shard beneath, soothing Voldemort’s influence, until Harry slumped even further against Marvolo’s leg, falling contently asleep within his dream.

How Harry had soon craved more. 

He had been starved of positive attention and touch solely directed at him for so long, that now when it was so freely given to him, he found himself to be greedy. 

Marvolo didn’t mind indulging his Harry. 

He wasn’t quite able yet to take care of Harry like he wanted to - to feed him, to take on his burdens, to burn down the world if it dared to upset his sweet Harry - but _this_ he would be delighted to take care of and could do so without trouble. 

Could spread his legs when Harry had been sneaking glances for some nights in a row, to let him settle between them instead of beside them. Could pet Harry’s hair while he nestled tentative against his groin - and, if it was this, what his Harry desired who was Marvolo to deny him? 

_He would take care of_ all _of Harry’s needs._ _  
_ _He would make anyone else obsolete, his Harry wouldn’t need anyone else ever again._

During his rare waking hours, Harry had only absentmindedly noticed that the girl had left. Was searching for the redhead that would never come back again. Not after he had upset his Harry so much time and time again. 

Marvolo had let him leave. 

But no matter how much he ran, he would have never been able to escape - not since the Locket had left its mark. It had only been a matter of time until he was entirely drained. Giving Marvolo the means to come back into a body. 

A body to wrap around Harry, keeping him secure and cared for like he deserved. 

Finally, Marvolo could take hold of Harry and - despite all the filth - cradle the too-light body against his newly-built chest. Could softly kiss the scar on Harry’s forehead to soothe his anguished whimpers into deep breaths of peaceful slumber, all while Marvolo kept his unspoiled lips pressed against the grime skin, smiling victoriously. 

_“I can touch you now, Harry.”_

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!  
> Also, feel free to check out my [tumblr](https://ellionne.tumblr.com/), I’d love to see you around 💙


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